Tag: pumpkin

Book Tags

The LGBTQ+ Book Tag!

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Happy Friday bookish people! Today I am very excited to be bringing you this book tag today, in the UK June is Pride month so I thought this would be a great book tag to do. I especially felt like doing this tag because my own sexuality has been on my mind a lot recently, after being in a serious relationship I have started to realise that I may actually be on the ace/asexual spectrum. I’ve done a lot of reading on the topic since I started to think more about it and it’s strange because the more I read the more I feel so sure that this is me. Anyway, I read that this may be part of the LGBTQ+ spectrum (please correct me if I am wrong about this) and so I thought this tag would be fitting.

I found this tag on Annas Book Knook blog on wordpress. I will try and answer with books that I own and that I have read but I will admit I don’t have that many books with LGBTQ+ Rep in them.

Female Strength: A book with a lesbian heroine

Right after I’ve said that I will only choose books I have read… I am choosing one I haven’t read but I have heard that it has a focus on a lesbian relationship – Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth

Cinnamon Roll: A book with an adorable gay character

For this I chose the character of Robin Blythe from A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske

Boys and Girls: A book with bi rep done right

I can’t really speak so much about this because I don’t identify as bi, but for this one I chose Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Basherdoust

The Body and the Soul: A book with a trans character

For this one, again I had to choose a book that I haven’t read because I don’t own any but I chose Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

We’re all queer: queer rep you’d love to see more of

After realising I might be ace, I’d love to see more books with ace rep in them

All about pronouns: A book with a non-binary character

I didn’t pick a book for this question because I didn’t already own any and I didn’t want to choose too many more books that I haven’t read so if you have any reccomendations let me know!

Aromantic Ace: A book that belongs to the aro/ace spectrum

I have heard that there are characters in Vicious by V E Schwab that are aro/aceand I enjoy that book a lot so that’s the one I chose.

One Big Family: A book that features lots of different LGBTQ+ reps

Again I didn’t choose one for this because I could not find one on my shelf or through a search of recommendations so again if you know of any good ones, let me know.

Sapphic Love: Your favourite F/F couple

For this one I chose Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn

Boys Love: Your M/M OTP

For this one I chose one of my favourite books, The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Sidekick: Your favourite LGBTQ+ side character

Stealing the show: An LGBTQ+ side character couple

I chose the sister (I can’t think of the names right now!) and her girlfriend in Pumpkin by Julie Murphy

Strong Beliefs: An LGBTQ+ book that deals with religion

Again, I could not find a book for this question.

Rainbows Everywhere: A book with an unapologetic cover

For this one I chose the cover of Especially Earnest by Molly Horan

Future Generations: Your most anticipated LGBTQ+ release

I am really excited for A Little Bit Country by Brian D Kennedy

That’s it for this book tag, I hope you all enjoyed it! How would you answer these?

Uncategorized

Books with LGBTQ+ Representation

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. I am bringing you a list of books that I have either read, want to read or have seen recommended that have LGBTQ+ representation.

Pumpkin by Julie Murphy

Pumpkin by Julie Murphy | Waterstones

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows: Book 1: Amazon.co.uk: Bardugo, Leigh: 9781780622286: Books

The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen

The Merciful Crow (The Merciful Crow Series Book 1) eBook : Owen, Margaret: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

The Upside of Unrequited : Albertalli, Becky: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn

Dangerous Remedy (Battalion of the Dead #1) by Kat Dunn

Girl Serpent Thorn by Melissa Basherdoust

Girl, Serpent, Thorn : Bashardoust, Melissa: Amazon.co.uk: Books

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

The Starless Sea: TIKTOK MADE ME BUY IT! The spellbinding Sunday Times bestseller.: Amazon.co.uk: Morgenstern, Erin: 9781784702861: Books

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth

Plain Bad Heroines Review – But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett

Master of One by Jaida Jones

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Girls of Paper and Fire: Natasha Ngan: Amazon.co.uk: Ngan, Natasha: 9781473692206: Books

A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth

A Dark and Hollow Star Audiobook | Ashley Shuttleworth | Audible.co.uk

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

The Midnight Lie: Amazon.co.uk: Rutkoski, Marie: 9781529357479: Books

Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Red, White & Royal Blue: A Novel: Amazon.co.uk: Casey McQuiston: 9781250316776: Books

You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

That’s it for this post, I hope you all enjoyed it! Let me know some of your recommendations in the comments below!

Bookmas 2021

Merry Bookmas Day 13 – 13th December – The Best And Worst Books 2021

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Happy Monday bookish people! Merry Bookmas day 13! I am really excited to be writing this post. I will be talking about what the best and the worst books are that I read each month. I had to think very hard about which books I wanted to feature because some months there were lots of books that I enjoyed and then I had to choose between them which one I liked most and that was hard. Then other months there were books that I really didn’t like so it was overall quite a balanced year.

January

For my favourite book I read in January I was trying to decide between two options, both were fantasy books and they were very different to each other. I ended up choosing A Court of Thorns and Roses as my favourite book of January because it’s a book I still think about and not just because I haven’t continued with the series yet.

For the worst book I read in January I chose The Sisters Grimm by Menna Van Praag, actually I didn’t even finish the book this year. I Dnf’d it at about the halfway point of the book. I don’t know if I just wasn’t in the mood for it at that point or if I just found the plot a little boring but I do plan on giving the book another chance at some point.

February

My favourite book in February was Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell which surprisingly is a contemporary romance and not at all what I was expecting but I really loved it.

My least favourite book in February was What A Way To Go by Julia Forster. There was nothing about the book that I liked, that doesn’t mean that someone else won’t love this book it just wasn’t for me.

March

My favourite book was The Strange Case of the Alchemists Daughter by Theadora Goss which I saw some of my favourite youtubers talk about and so I read it and loved the premise, I am excited to continue the series.

My least favourite book of March was Skyseed by Bill McGuire. It’s another book that just wasn’t a genre or plot that I enjoyed.

April

My favourite book for this month was Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin and I can’t believe it took me so long to read that book because it is definitely a contender for my overall favourite book of the year.

My least favourite book was Mirrorland by Carole Johnston. I couldn’t sleep after reading this book I just found it way too scary for me so I didn’t end up enjoying it.

May

My favourite book of this month was Get A Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert. Another romance, I am surprising myself by reading outside of my comfort zone this year.

My least favourite book this month was Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch. So, I’m not loving every book I read that is outside my comfort zone. I didn’t really like the characters in this book and that made it a struggle for me to read it.

June

My favourite book was The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant. It’s a fantastic middle grade book that I would highly reccomend.

My least favourite book was I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan because I hit a chapter that felt too disturbing for me, there was something about it that didn’t sit well with me so I Dnf’d it for the moment.

July

My favourite book of July was A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn. It was nice to read a murder mystery that is set in Victorian times and I ended up realising I love books set in this period of time.

My least favourite book was Pumpkin by Julie Murphy. Now, I liked the book but it wasn’t a stand out book for me.

August

My favourite book was The Appeal by Janice Hallett because it was so different and engaging and one of the best mysteries I read this year.

My least favourite book this month was The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels. There was a lot about this book I liked, such as the pirate style assassin Ned who I loved but there was something missing for me but I can’t pinpoint exactly what.

September

My favourite book of this month was A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder by holly Jackson without a doubt. I loved this book and I am still thinking about this book now months later.

My least favourite book of this month was The Woman In The Woods by M K Hill. The mystery itself would have been okay but the characters were so hard to like.

October

My favourite book of this month was City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab, it was a reread but I enjoyed it just as much the second time around.

My least favourite book was Once Upon A Crime by Robin Stevens. I am not the biggest fan of short stories so I liked the writing but I needed more from the stories.

November

My favourite book of this month was Take A Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert – another romance book!

My least favourite book of this month was the Howling Hag Mystery by Nicki Thornton. The plot was too predictable for my liking, even as a middle grade book.

December

Now, I’m writing this in December so I am gong to say what I predict will be my favourite and least favourite books of the month. I think my favourite book will be either Eliza and her Monsters or All of us villains. My least favourite book I predict will be In the Crypt with a Candlestick.

That’s it for the best and worst books for 2021, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Bookmas 2021

Merry Bookmas Day 11 – 11th December – Books That Surprised Me In 2021

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Happy Saturday Bookish people! And Merry Bookmas day 11. Today I wanted to share some of the books that have surprised me throughout this year. There have been quite a few books that have done this actually, for lots of different reasons. I will try and show a picture of each book, give the title and give a little bit of information about why the book surprised me.

I’ll start with two books from the same series…

The first two books that I want to mention are Get A Life Chloe Brown and Take A Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert. These two books are part of the Brown Sisters trilogy, I can’t include the third book yet because I haven’t read it but I imagine it would give me the same reaction. I was surprised by these two books because they are adult romance books and romance has never been a genre that I have enjoyed all that much. However, Talia Hibbert’s books have a good balance between wit and the actual romance, she also includes a plot in the books which made it easier for me to enjoy. I also loved some of the characters. If you are interested in my full thoughts about these two books I have posted reviews of them both.

Another book that surprised me was…

The reason I was surprised by this book is because it is written almost completely in email correspondence. I knew this before reading the book and it made me think that I might not enjoy the book as much because I couldn’t see how the mystery would still have those character relationships and the tension that I like in a book. I was wrong because I ended up loving the book and thought that using emails was a brilliant choice on the part of the author.

Another mystery that surprised me was…

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz surprised me because it is a large book and I hadn’t read anything by this author before. I was surprised that I was kept engaged in the complex and long mystery. It was one of my favourite books that I have read this year. I have a review of this book posted if you want to know my full thoughts on the book.

A historical book that I was surprised by is…

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn. This book is, the first book in a series, about a woman, I believe in the Victorian period, who is thrown into the middle of a mystery. I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this book because I hadn’t read many historical mysteries but now it is a genre I actively look for when buying books.

Up next is a book that was bought for me..

Lireal by Garth Nix. This is a book that surprised me because it was recommended to me by my partner. He had showed it to me in the shop and I looked at the synopsis and thought it might be an okay book but I didn’t really feel like reading it but my partner bought it for me so then I had to read it. And of course, he was right, I loved the book and I ended up giving it five stars.

Up next is…

Pumpkin by Julie Murphy. I got this book after seeing lots of great reviews about it and I thought well, it sounds okay so I’ll give it a go. I was surprised I liked it because again it’s not my preferred genre but I did end up liking it.

The next one is part of a series…

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. I have only read the first two books in the series so far but I was surprised by them because of the premise of the series. If it is a book about books or librarians I’m almost guaranteed to love it. But I was less sure about this book because it combined librarians with the supernatural world of vampires and fae and spies. I was imagining a retelling of James Bond but it was nothing like that but I ended up enjoying it and continuing with the series.

The next book is a stand alone I put off reading…

Fangirl : Rowell, Rainbow: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is another book that is way out of my usual genre, I had to fulfill a prompt for a readathon and I ended up picking Fangirl because it is a book about a girl who loves writing stories and fanfiction which to me is more relatable than some other romance/contemporary books. I was surprised that I actually became very emotionally invested in the characters, especially Cath and I gave the book five stars.

The final book for this list is…

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden surprised me because it is based on folklore and is a very dark book, there is a dark and cold atmosphere to the story. But I found the whole book to be beautiful, whimsical and magical. One of the best books I have read.

That’s it for the books that have surprised me in 2021, I hope you all enjoyed reading about it. What books have surprised you in 2021?

Book Reviews, Uncategorized

Book Review: Pumpkin by Julie Murphy

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Happy Monday bookish people! Today is Monday which means it is time for me to upload another book review, and today I won’t be uploading just one – I’ll be posting seven! The first of which was one of my first reads of July, Pumpkin by Julie Murphy. I picked this book up after I saw some of my favourite booktubers talking about it and I thought it would be an interesting read, which it was.

In this book review I will give star ratings for four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

Pumpkin Plot:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I really enjoyed the sweet and heartwarming themes in this story. I was lulled into this story by it’s defying stereotypes of prom king and queen, but there is so much more to it. It covers friendship, acceptance, sibling relationships and on top of all this romantic relationships. In a small book I felt a wave of different emotions and of course, it didn’t take me long at all to read through it. The romance itself, although predictable, was sweet and I did find myself smiling sometimes.

Pumpkin Characters:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Waylon is the main character that the story follows and he is a great protagonist, he is relatable and fun. I felt everything he did right along with him and although I couldn’t relate to the things he was going through I did relate to being an outsider and my experiences at school weren’t the best, I found myself wishing I had the confidence he did. Clementine, twin sister of Waylon, was also a great character but I wish she was in the book more than she is.

Pumpkin Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The writing in this book was very smooth and kept me swept along with the story. There’s not much more for me to say here because it wasn’t the best writing I’ve read but it also is very far from the worst I’ve read.

Pumpkin Overall:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this book four stars because I enjoyed it, despite it being a contemporary romance, and I liked the representation that the book provides.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Waylon Russell Brewer is a fat, openly gay boy stuck in the small West Texas town of Clover City. His plan is to bide his time until he can graduate, move to Austin with his twin sister, Clementine, and finally go Full Waylon, so that he can live his Julie-the-hills-are-alive-with-the-sound-of-music-Andrews truth.

So when Clementine deviates from their master plan right after Waylon gets dumped, he throws caution to the wind and creates an audition tape for his favorite TV drag show, Fiercest of Them All. What he doesn’t count on is the tape accidentally getting shared with the entire school. . . . As a result, Waylon is nominated for prom queen as a joke. Clem’s girlfriend, Hannah Perez, also receives a joke nomination for prom king.

Waylon and Hannah decide there’s only one thing to do: run—and leave high school with a bang. A very glittery bang. Along the way, Waylon discovers that there is a lot more to running for prom court than campaign posters and plastic crowns, especially when he has to spend so much time with the very cute and infuriating prom king nominee Tucker Watson.

Waylon will need to learn that the best plan for tomorrow is living for today . . . especially with the help of some fellow queens. . . .

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it! Have any of you read this book? What did you think of it?

Monthly Wrap Ups

July Wrap Up!

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Happy Saturday bookish people! It is the end of July… this month has felt like a long one for me. I submitted my new PhD application at the beginning of this month and I’m not sure how I feel about it, the first time I sent in an application I wasn’t confident exactly but this time any confidence I might have had was completely gone. Anyway, I also got to see family in July which was really nice!

So in terms of reading for the month of July: Once again I did not complete my TBR, I’m not surprised about this at all because I had a couple of book tour reads I had to do and I spent four days in Hampshire and I mostly mood read for that. I packed five books and read four over this weekend so even though I didn’t read much off my TBR I still read a lot of books, I think my final number was fifteen. I’ll know for sure at the end of this wrap up.

Let’s see what I did and didn’t read this month!

My July TBR and thoughts:

  • A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas – I did not get around to reading this (again) I will read it at some point but I need to be in a certain mood and have time to really get engrossed in the book, I mean Rhysand is in it so I’m definitely excited to read it.
  • A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn – I read this one! I took this one with me to Hampshire and read it in the hotel room on one of the evenings, I really enjoyed this book and of course now I want the whole series. I will be putting up a review of this book very soon.
  • An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – I didn’t read this book. I am still very interested in this book I just didn’t have enough time this month.
  • Blood and Honey by Shelby Mahurin – I read Serpent and Dove in June and loved it, however I wasn’t ready to go back into this world yet so I will read this one in a couple of months time.
  • European Travels for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss – I have started reading this one but I have not finished it yet.
  • The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V E Schwaab – I haven’t read this one because I have a feeling it will make me cry and I didn’t feel like crying too much in July.
  • The Killings at Kingfisher Hill by Sophie Hannah – I didn’t get around to reading this one either.
  • King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo – I feel like I should read the final installment in the Shadow and Bone series first so I haven’t read this one.
  • Legendborn by Tracy Deonne – another one I haven’t read this month.
  • Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch – I have read this one. I wanted a light and fluffy read, I didn’t quite get this but it was an okay read.
  • Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth – big books strike again, I didn’t read this because it is a huge book.
  • Pumpkin by Julie Murphy – I read this one, this was my first read of the month, I really liked this one. I will have a review up for this book soon too.
  • Save the Date by Morgan Matson – I don’t read very much contemporary so I’m not surprised that I didn’t get around to this one.
  • The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden – again I was very much mood reading this month so I didn’t get to this one.
  • The Plague Letters by V L Valentine – I thought this book would be a bit dark for me this month so I didn’t read this one either.
  • Threadneedle by Cari Thomas – I didn’t read this one.
  • Finally Turtles All The Way Down by John Green – I di not read this one either.

So, from my TBR I read three books and started one other. Outside of my TBR I read some other books, these were:

That is my reading for this month, I read 13 books and started two others so overall this was another good reading month. I am actually pretty confident I will reach my 100 books challenge for 2021.

Monthly TBRs

July TBR!

theblindscribe

Happy Thursday bookish people! It’s the first of July! There’s so much happening this month: book tours, seeing family members, an outdoor murder mystery event! And because it is the first of the month it is time to show you what I’m planning on reading this month.

June went very well, I ended up reading twelve books, if you’re interested in seeing what I read I posted my June wrap up yesterday.

So once again for July I have given myself a large TBR, and that is before the books I need to read for book tours.

Onto my TBR for July!

  • A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas – I am very much looking forward to reading this one. I read A Court of Thorns and Roses earlier this year and really enjoyed it.
  • A Curious Beginning by Jeanna Raybourn – I’ve found in the past year that I enjoy murder mysteries set in the victorian period so I’m hoping I’ll love this one too.
  • An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – it’s about time I get around to reading this series. I’ve had it on my shelves for over a year.
  • Blood and Honey by Shelby Mahurin – I have just read Serpent and Dove and loved it so I can’t wait to pick up the sequel.
  • European Travels for the Monstrous Gentlewoman – I read the first in this series and I’m hoping to enjoy this one too now that I know the characters well.
  • The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V E Schwaab – I think I’m going to cry at this one.
  • The Killing at Kingfisher Hill by Sophie Hannah – I used to love all the Poirot books and the TV show so I’m hopeful about this one.
  • King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo – I love the Grishaverse so much I can’t wait to be back in it.
  • Legendborn by Tracey Deonn – I’m excited for this one as I’ve heard good things about it.
  • Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch – This is a contemporary so I’m not sure how it’s going to go but I don’t usually love contemporaries.
  • Plain Bad Heroines by Emily Danforth – I picked this one up by chance but I do enjoy a mystery.
  • Pumpkin by Julie Murphy – this one looks so good!
  • Save the Date by Morgan Matson – I have read some of her other books and enjoyed them so this one should be good too.
  • The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden – I loved the Bear and the Nightingale so I’m hoping to enjoy this one too.
  • The Plague Letters by V L Valentine – I’m so excited for this murder mystery.
  • Threadneedle by Cari Thomas – This book is absolutely beautiful!
  • Turtles all the way Down by John Green – I’m not sure if I will enjoy this book or not, I’ve never read any of his other books.

That’s it for my July TBR, I hope you all enjoyed it! What books are you reading in July?